Download Earth System - Soil

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Soil Quiz
1. Which element is humus especially rich in?
6. Which plants are usually the first to live in soil?
a. Oxygen
b. Carbon
c. Nitrogen
d. Tungsten
a. Simple plants
b. Trees
c. Plants that can support insect life
d. Flowers
2. What do weathering and erosion have in
common?
7. How would you compare young soil to soil that
has been around a long time?
a. They both occur underground
b. They both involve the application of heat and
pressure
c. They both break down rocks and minerals
d. They both bring about chemical changes in rocks
and minerals
a. Young soil can hold more water than old soil
b. Young soil is rockier than old soil
c. Young soil is thicker and grainier than old soil
d. Young soil has less organic matter than old soil
8.
3. Which of these things is a primary ingredient of
humus?
Why is topsoil darker than
the other levels of soil?
a. Dead plant material
b. Rocks from the earth's crust
c. Minerals
d. Metals
a. It contains more organic matter
b. It contains all the darker-colored minerals
c. It contains volcanic rock
d. It contains bits of burned trees
4.
9.
What effect do plants' roots
have on rock?
a. They hold it together
b. They weather it
c. They cause it to undergo chemical changes
d. They break it apart
5. Which of the following terms best describes the
processes of weathering and erosion?
a. Instantaneous
b. Gradual
c. Rapid
d. Insignificant
What would happen if
leaching did not occur?
a. Topsoil would be much less fertile
b. There would be almost no organic material in lower
levels of soil
c. There would be no clay in horizon B
d. Rocks would never be weathered away
10. What exactly is bedrock?
a. Any organic rock or mineral
b. Rock that lies underwater
c. Rock that has not been weathered
d. Especially soft rock